This is a shortened version of a longer post available for Patreon subscribers here. Wá Balréal i Sagaia, Balréal i Sagaia i cóné.Once a Queen in Sagaia, always a Queen in Sagaia. Né láal dam á.He is not a tame lion. When I began thinking about the redemption of Narnia, one of the first things… Continue reading On Words and Names in Sagaia
Tag: Tolkien
2022 in Books: Worst to Best
This past year was mostly filled with professional work, but I made some progress on personal projects as well. Axon, Inc.’s revisions are coming along slowly but surely. I took November to make progress on Return to Sagaia, which now is well over 40K words, and I’m super excited about it. I’m also continuing to… Continue reading 2022 in Books: Worst to Best
What Is Canon For?
If it's a bad story that breaks canon, adherence to canon won't fix it. If it's a good story that breaks canon in a minor way, it's irrelevant; it's just nitpicking. If it's a good story that breaks canon in a major way, it's probably a good story *because* it breaks canon.
The Call of Adventure: Mapping Story Structure
Ever since George Lucas introduced Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces to screenwriting, it's had a profound influence -- not just on the movie industry, but on fiction in general. A quick Google search will bring up thousands of pages about applying Joseph Campbell's work to novels, short stories, and even television commercials. I… Continue reading The Call of Adventure: Mapping Story Structure
Fiction and the Shamanic Journey
In a series of posts a few years ago, I talked about the function of fiction. What is it for? What purpose does it serve? After all, it’s all a pack of lies — and what’s more, it’s lies that everyone knows are false. In that article I argued that fiction’s primary purpose was to… Continue reading Fiction and the Shamanic Journey